The 2026 Ballon d'Or will be presented on Monday 26 October 2026 at the London Palladium. It is the 70th edition of the award and the first ceremony ever held in London. Harry Kane and Lamine Yamal are the two names everyone is arguing about. Here is everything you need to know: when it is, how the winner is picked, who is on the shortlist and what the other awards are.
When is the Ballon d'Or 2026?
The ceremony is on the evening of Monday 26 October 2026. The organisers, France Football and UEFA, had not confirmed an exact start time when we wrote this, so check ballondor.com on the day for the broadcast details.
Where is it being held?
At the London Palladium in the West End. In recent years France Football's ceremony has been held in Paris, at the Théâtre du Châtelet. The move to London marks the award's 70th edition and nods to its first winner, Blackpool's Sir Stanley Matthews, who won it in 1956.
What period does it cover?
The award covers the 2025/26 season, from 3 August 2025 to 19 July 2026. That window includes the 2026 World Cup, which Spain won by beating Argentina 1-0 after extra time on 19 July. Since 2022 the Ballon d'Or has been judged on a season rather than a calendar year, so this is the fifth award to work that way.
How is the winner chosen?
A committee of journalists and former players picks the 30 nominees. The vote itself is done by a jury of 100 journalists, one from each of the top 100 nations in FIFA's men's world ranking. The women's award uses 50 journalists from the top 50 nations.
Each juror ranks ten players from the 30 and the points are added up:
| Place | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
If two players finish level on points, the one with more first-place votes wins.
Jurors are asked to weigh three things:
- Individual performance and how decisive a player was.
- Team performance: results and trophies with club and country.
- Class and fair play.
Voting closed on 28 September 2026, so the result is already decided. Nothing that has happened since then counts.
Who won last year?
Ousmane Dembélé won the 2025 Ballon d'Or after PSG's first Champions League title, with Lamine Yamal second and Vitinha third. Aitana Bonmatí won the women's award for the third year in a row. For every winner since 1956, see every Ballon d'Or winner, 1956 to 2025.
The 30 men's nominees
The shortlist was announced on 8 September 2026. PSG, who won the Champions League again by beating Arsenal on penalties in Budapest, have nine of the 30.
| Player | Nation | Club on the shortlist |
|---|---|---|
| Jude Bellingham | England | Real Madrid |
| Pau Cubarsí | Spain | Barcelona |
| Marc Cucurella | Spain | Real Madrid |
| Ousmane Dembélé | France | PSG |
| Luis Díaz | Colombia | Bayern Munich |
| Bruno Fernandes | Portugal | Manchester United |
| Gabriel Magalhães | Brazil | Arsenal |
| Erling Haaland | Norway | Manchester City |
| Achraf Hakimi | Morocco | PSG |
| Harry Kane | England | Bayern Munich |
| Khvicha Kvaratskhelia | Georgia | PSG |
| Sadio Mané | Senegal | Al Nassr |
| Marquinhos | Brazil | PSG |
| Lautaro Martínez | Argentina | Inter |
| Kylian Mbappé | France | Real Madrid |
| Nuno Mendes | Portugal | PSG |
| Lionel Messi | Argentina | Inter Miami |
| João Neves | Portugal | PSG |
| Michael Olise | France | Bayern Munich |
| Willian Pacho | Ecuador | PSG |
| Julián Quiñones | Mexico | Al-Qadsiah |
| Declan Rice | England | Arsenal |
| Rodri | Spain | Manchester City |
| Fabián Ruiz | Spain | PSG |
| William Saliba | France | Arsenal |
| Ferran Torres | Spain | Barcelona |
| Dayot Upamecano | France | Bayern Munich |
| Vinícius Júnior | Brazil | Real Madrid |
| Vitinha | Portugal | PSG |
| Lamine Yamal | Spain | Barcelona |
Alphabetical by surname, as published. Highlighted: the two favourites.
Who are the favourites?
Harry Kane
Kane scored 61 goals for Bayern and 73 for club and country. That included 36 in the Bundesliga, where he was top scorer for the third season running, as Bayern won the league and the DFB-Pokal. England reached the World Cup semi-finals and he scored six times at the tournament. If he wins, he will be the first Englishman to do so since Michael Owen in 2001.
Lamine Yamal
Yamal won the World Cup with Spain and La Liga with Barcelona, and he finished as La Liga's top assist-maker. He was second in 2025. He has also been the loudest voice in the debate, arguing that the award should go to the best player rather than the one who scored the most goals. Kane's reply was that he didn't know how Yamal meant it.
The rest of the field
- Kylian Mbappé won the World Cup Golden Boot with 10 goals and scored 25 in La Liga, but Real Madrid won no major trophy.
- Rodri, the 2024 winner, was the player of the World Cup and won the Golden Ball.
- Michael Olise had 15 goals and 19 assists in the Bundesliga. He tops our own data ranking of the nominees.
- Ousmane Dembélé is the holder and won the Champions League again with PSG.
- Lionel Messi, now 39, is on the list again after winning the World Cup Silver Ball with Argentina.
We ran every nominee through the Scout52 model. The result is not what the debate suggests: the Ballon d'Or nominees, ranked by data.
The women's Ballon d'Or
Aitana Bonmatí won the last three women's awards, but a broken leg in November kept her out for most of the season and she is not on this year's list. That opens the race. Barcelona won the quadruple, beating OL Lyonnes 4-0 in the Champions League final, and have eight of the 30 nominees, including Ewa Pajor, Caroline Graham Hansen and two-time winner Alexia Putellas. Alessia Russo and Alex Greenwood are England's nominees.
The other awards on the night
| Award | What it is for | Names to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Kopa Trophy | Best player under 21 | Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsí, Lennart Karl, Warren Zaïre-Emery |
| Yashin Trophy | Best goalkeeper | Unai Simón (World Cup Golden Glove), David Raya, Thibaut Courtois |
| Gerd Müller Trophy | Top scorer of the season | Kane's 61 club goals make him the obvious candidate |
| Johan Cruyff Trophy | Coach of the year | Mikel Arteta, Luis de la Fuente, Unai Emery, Vincent Kompany, Luis Enrique |
| Club of the Year | Best club | Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Bodø/Glimt, Flamengo, PSG |
The women's awards have their own Kopa, Yashin and Cruyff categories. Hannah Hampton (Chelsea) is up for the women's goalkeeper award.
The Bottom Line
The 70th Ballon d'Or is on Monday 26 October at the London Palladium, and the votes are already in. On trophies it is Yamal, with a World Cup and a league title. On goals it is Kane, with 73 of them. Our data has its own view, and it is not either of the obvious answers.
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